The use of wireless links in providing information communication has continued to grow in recent years. Use of cellular telephones, including analog systems such as those based upon the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) technology and digital systems such as personal communication services (PCS) phones based upon code division multiple access (CDMA) and time division multiple access (TDMA) techniques, e.g., those of global system for mobiles (GSM). Additionally, wireless communication has become widespread in providing data communication, such as point to point and point to multi-point wireless communication systems including those of the BLACKBERRY personal digital assistant (PDA) and WEBLINK WIRELESS networks. Moreover, as wireless communication becomes more and more ubiquitous wireless networks having a more localized service area have become widespread, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs) utilizing IEEE 802.11 and BLUETOOTH technology.
However, it should be appreciated that the available spectrum for radio frequency (RF) wireless communication is somewhat limited. The spectrum from approximately 10 KHz to approximately 100 GHz substantially comprises the radio spectrum available for communication today, with RF wireless communication primarily occupying the spectrum below around 40 GHz. As wireless communications become more and more ubiquitous, portions of the radio spectrum have become very crowded. Although it is possible to establish wireless communications in a less crowded portion of the radio spectrum, such as moving communications to the 60 GHz range and beyond, it is typically not an easy task to implement wireless communications in such bands. For example, implementing wireless communications in the high end of the spectrum typically has costs associated therewith including significant signal attenuation due to obstacles, such as walls, buildings, foliage, and topographical attributes, and even due to water and water vapor in the air. Moreover, the radio spectrum is typically heavily regulated and controlled by governments, such as by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States, providing for particular uses of the spectrum in both licensed and unlicensed bands.
Accordingly, those deploying, maintaining, and/or using wireless communication links are often relegated to relatively crowded frequency bands. Accordingly, at least some wireless communication infrastructure providers have invested large amounts of time and money in managing the use of their frequency band.
For example, cellular telephone infrastructure providers have developed detailed frequency reuse plans in an attempt to achieve a maximum amount of reuse of communication channels with an acceptable amount of mutual interference. Additionally, highly skilled RF engineers have been employed with respect to such cellular networks to map effective radiation patterns and to make adjustments at antenna sights in an attempt to minimize mutual interference. However, such wireless communication management has not been without difficulty. For example, the aforementioned frequency reuse plans are often quite complex, requiring significant resources to plan and deploy, and typically present substantial complications when changes are implemented, such as to implement new or more channels at a cell, to alter the directivity of an antenna configuration, and/or to deploy micro-cells in the reuse pattern. Additionally, the highly skilled RF engineers utilized with respect to management of such networks are an expensive and typically limited resource and often are not provided with a level of detail with respect information regarding the actual operation of the network to fully optimize the management thereof. Moreover, the management of such networks often ignores or is unable to fully account for all sources of degraded operation, such as the existence and/or location of external sources of interference.
Often, however, wireless communication networks are implemented without even the benefit of the aforementioned management resources. For example, WLANs, such as those operable according to the IEEE 802.11 protocol, are typically deployed, maintained, and/or used by individuals or a relatively small user base. Accordingly, it is impracticable or impossible to provide resources in the way of frequency or radiation pattern planning, such as due to cost, personnel, and/or training issues. Indeed, a substantial number of such networks are simply deployed in a “best guess” configuration and remain substantially unattended unless and until a critical fault is detected. Accordingly, such networks are often left to operate at reduced capacity and/or quality.
A need, therefore, exists in the art for systems and methods for managing wireless communications. A further need exists in the art for such systems and methods to optimize operation of wireless communication networks without requiring the use of RF engineers or similarly highly skilled technicians.